Most Dangerous Job? It Could Be C-Store Worker

Convenience store operator Circle K Stores Inc. has been cited by OSHA with one serious violation in the Jan. 19, 2024 shooting of a Orlando, Florida store cashier.
The agency has proposed $16,131 in penalties, the maximum amount allowed by federal law, for failing to provide a place of employment free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. The company has contested the findings.
Wednesday’s announcement comes just days after an El Paso, Texas man was arrested after killing another Circle K employee by shooting him in the head.
In fact, a review of OSHA investigations of Circle K locations since 2014 finds five workers suffered fatal gunshot injuries at two locations in Texas in August 2021 and December 2018, Georgia in September 2019, Florida in June 2016 and Alabama in December 2015.
The majority of these incidents took place in the evening or overnight hours.
Robbery-related homicides and assaults as the leading cause of death for retail workers, according to NIOSH.
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New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority must improve its safety procedures, according to the Federal Transit Administration.
The MTA, which runs the city’s subways, buses and commuter rail, has been told to take another look at its roadway worker protection program and to develop corrective action plans to reduce the risk of workers being struck by trains when on the tracks.
The federal agency conducted audits after an MTA worker was fatally struck in November 2023 and another was critically injured in June 2024.
The FTA has also instructed the state’s Public Transportation Safety Board to bolster its oversight of the MTA’s safety programs, requiring additional monitoring and monthly reports for review by the federal agency.
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Emergency services personnel have responded to at least 20 traumatic injuries at Hyundai’s new Georgia site since construction began in January 2023, according to emergency services and fire department records obtained by The Current.
The Korean conglomerate’s electric vehicle plant is presently Georgia’s largest economic development project.
However, according to the news outlet’s report, organizational chaos makes following best safety practices impossible, raising questions about whether the dozens of companies involved in the construction are following workplace safety laws.
Of the 20 traumatic injuries, 13 occurred in the first six months of 2024. One resulted in a worker’s death.
However, OSHA lists only 10 reports in its public database regarding accidents on the site between January 2023 and May 2024.
OSHA’s database lists no inspections for any of the seven Hyundai companies on the site who are legally distinct from each other but will work in tandem to produce Hyundai’s electric vehicles.
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An appeal by Sunnyside Coal that challenged workers compensation benefits awarded to an injured miner has been denied by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The late Ronald Fossat filed for black lung benefits in 2013. Those were finally awarded in 2021.
Sunnyside appealed to the award to the U.S. Department of Labor Benefits Review Board, which affirmed the benefits.
Fossat, a long-time smoker, claimed he developed respiratory difficulties due to coal dust exposure during his 24-year mining career.
The 10th Circuit Appeal Court said the employer failed to disprove legal pneumoconiosis and failed to establish that no part of Fossat’s respiratory problems were due to coal dust exposure.
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